Labour councillor Louise Gibbard, the Council Member Champion for Women, has joined ‘donate a Jane Austen tenner’ by giving her new £10 note to Matthew’s House – the homeless drop-in centre in Swansea High Street.

Cllr Gibbard said she has been very impressed by the work being done at Matthew’s House especially with regards the Homeless Period Swansea campaign looking after women’s needs at that difficult time of the month.

“It is women that have been hit hardest by austerity so it’s a case whatever we can do to improve lives of women affected so badly by the current economic climate,” she said.

“I saw the campaign to donate your first ‘Jane Austen tenner’ to women’s charities. I thought that was a great idea and wanted to encourage people to asking people to consider doing it for women’s charities such as the Homeless Period Swansea, Swansea Women’s Aid, or Swansea Trauma Support.

“I have been really impressed with the work done by Matthew’s House and their promotion of the Homeless Period Swansea campaign, so I decided to donate my first new tenner to them.”

Thom Lynch, Project Manager at Matthew’s House said he was delighted that Cllr Gibbard was championing the Homeless Period Swansea.

“The Homeless Period campaign is a UK initiative and we have set up a hub in Swansea collecting such items as sanitary products, wet wipes and underwear to offer dignity packs to vulnerable local women,” explained Thom.